Guilt-Free Bingo?

Sin vices---this is what gambling games are often called. The higher wagers go the more sinful a gambling game is deemed to be. But how come the popular notion on Bingo is that it is the most innocent gambling game ever? What's in it that makes it a saint's vice?

Bingo used to be "Bean-go" in its early, founding years. It was said to be a carnival past time that carnival performers engrossed in to drop work stress and win some consolation---their pay being too minimal. A card of numbers was used by each player and whenever a number was called a bean piece was used to mark out the number on the card.

Later, carnival patrons joined the gambling game and soon a new carnival stall was needed to accommodate the growing number of bingo players. Many believe this humble beginning was what created the notion that bingo is not really that "sinful" a gambling game to engage in.

Since then the game became popular with small-time gamblers and was once known as a poor man's gambling game. Gradually, the potential of bingo as a funder for social projects became known. With its simple operation and mechanics---plus the cheap cost of entering a game---more people can be involved and jack up the profits.

Instead of earning infamy as a serious gambling game, bingo became known as a social welfare game. Some churches even use it to raise funds. On the other hand, nobody hears of poker or roulette or slotting being used by well intentioned institutions to fund a social cause.

Though today bingo can be crowded with big-time sponsors as to offer big-time winnings, the innocent look still remains because no betting is usually involved. To enter a game a one time cheap pay of some $1 to $20 is all that's needed, and this not for betting, but as a kind "donation" to a social cause being upheld. Or, if no noble donation is concerned, the fee is for either the entrance or renting a card. It's never for betting per se.

In some quarters, though, "betting" is done by gathering uniform "bets" in a pot and played winner-takes-all. In some other form, gamblers "bet" on a thought of 5 number-series and wait for their pet number series to be called out. Winnings are in proportion to the amount wagered. Often in these forms bingo becomes "a bit sinful."

Bingo is guiltless gambling to many, though it can be abused into being a meanly wagered gambling game. A better way is simply enjoy it devoid of any betting devices.